CHAPTER 045
"I have a request..."
Arabelle quietly spoke, fidgeting with her hand held by the emperor. She felt embarrassed and her eyes felt hot as she still wasn’t used to sitting in such an intimate position on his lap.
"Speak of anything."
Even during breakfast, the emperor's red lips curved in satisfaction from the indulgence he had taken.
He used to mock men who promised the stars to their loved ones, but now he felt he could do even more than that, making him feel awkwardly bashful as his face reddened.
Arabelle looked up at the emperor, her gaze unwavering as she spoke slowly.
"Please promise me you won’t help me in the Empress Selection Competition."
The emperor's eyebrow arched at Arabelle's unexpected request. He had planned to abolish the pointless competition as soon as they returned to the palace and announced their marriage.
"The Empress Selection Competition is far more challenging than you can imagine. Many young ladies who have been specially trained to become empresses since birth couldn’t even make it to the finals."
Arabelle lowered her head at the emperor's words.
He gently stroked her back with his large hand, trying to reassure her by saying, 'Don’t worry, leave everything to me.' After a moment, her head lifted again, and she met his gaze with unwavering determination.
Her voice, though slow, was firm as it flowed from her lips.
"I want to win the competition on my own... and earn the right to be by your side, Your Majesty."
"Saving my life alone is enough to qualify you as empress."
The emperor smiled softly, caressing Arabelle's cheek.
‘Who else but you, who has captured the emperor’s heart, could be worthy of becoming the empress?’
He couldn’t bring himself to say these embarrassing words aloud.
"If Your Majesty abolishes the competition or helps me, people will ridicule you as an emperor who abandoned centuries-old traditions and customs of the royal family without any justification, all for a woman."
The emperor frowned slightly at Arabelle’s words.
He was about to say, 'Don’t worry about such things,' but Arabelle's trembling yet determined voice resonated in his ears.
"I will win the Empress Selection Competition and prove that I deserve to be by your side. I will become an empress who is not a stain on your legacy but someone who supports you... a capable empress."
With a face as red as a beet, each heartfelt word from Arabelle deeply moved the emperor.
Emperor Maxwell realized that he was no different from those who dismissed her and thought she was unworthy of becoming empress.
He had planned to abolish the competition, thinking Arabelle would undoubtedly fail. He brought her to the palace initially as a key to break his curse, so the competition results didn’t matter to him.
But now, things have changed. Watching her sleep in his arms the night before, he had resolved to make her empress by any means necessary. He would remove any obstacles in their way.
He had preemptively concluded that her kind and unambitious nature would prevent her from winning in the competition filled with scheming and intrigue, so he had intended to help her his way. The emperor bit his lip in embarrassment.
Reflecting on the time he had spent with Arabelle, she had achieved many great things.
She had saved a dying beast, rescued countless animals from a forest fire, and united people to restore a burnt forest. She had given him comfort in his agony, cleared her maid’s name, and revealed the method to identify the notorious fake Red Chaos Jewel, which had plagued not just the empire but the entire continent.
Arabelle had always quietly accomplished what she set out to do without showing off her abilities. However, people accustomed to flashy displays did not recognize her true worth.
For the first time, the emperor, who always believed he was right, realized he had fallen into the same narrow-minded thinking as others and felt a pang of regret.
He found her declaration of winning the ruthless competition to avoid being a weakness to him incredibly endearing. The emperor brought his lips to her clear eyes.
"I promise. So be sure to win the competition and become my empress."
Her eyes turned into crescents as she smiled brightly, and Arabelle replied.
"When I become empress, I will first propose to abolish the Empress Selection Competition so that the future emperor can marry the one he loves."
The small girl in his arms would never realize the emotions she stirred in the emperor. Arabelle buried her head in his shoulder and let out a shy laugh.
***
"As promised, I will neither interfere with nor assist you in the competition."
The emperor spoke as he leaned against the door, watching Arabelle finish her preparations to return to the palace.
Arabelle smiled and nodded as she put on her gloves, and the emperor slowly approached her. His red eyes gleamed like a predator eyeing its delicious prey.
"However, I have no intention of hiding my feelings for you. Rumors about you and me have already spread throughout the palace and the empire."
Arabelle's nose twitched as she lowered her head.
She had also heard the rumors. Stories about a worthless girl from a fallen family audaciously trying to win the emperor’s favor to become the eleventh candidate for the empress, only to be cast aside and soon expelled from the palace.
The emperor's long shadow covered Arabelle as he tilted her chin up with his finger.
Their gazes locked, and he drew her into a teasing smile.
"Until now, I was cautious because I didn’t know your feelings. But now, I will show you how the emperor's chosen eleventh candidate is treated."
His finger, which had been under her chin, slid down her neck and stopped at the collar of her coat, meticulously buttoned up to her neck.
His fingers slowly unbuttoned her coat as he whispered seductively.
"I know you will keep yourself covered until the red marks fade away."
Arabelle's cheeks flushed as she realized the emperor was talking about the marks he left on her the previous night.
The emperor began unbuttoning the collar of his uniform shirt.
"I need proof that your feelings won’t change. Otherwise, I might become so anxious that I go to the competition committee when we return to the palace."
He whispered intimately in her ear, having loosened his shirt collar.
"You have become the master of the beast, so you must leave a mark. I want it to be deep and beautiful. It is the emperor’s command."
The emperor wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her tightly against him. After a moment's hesitation, Arabelle tightly closed her eyes and slowly parted her pink lips.
***
On the outskirts of the capital.
"Catch him!"
"Stop right there!"
"You won’t get away if you get caught. Stop!"
Men’s voices grew closer from the main street as the sound of running footsteps and heavy breathing came from behind Arabelle.
Suddenly, thud.
"Ah...!"
"Ouch!"
Arabelle and the woman who had rushed into her collided, both falling in opposite directions.
"Are you alright?"
The emperor, who had been having a brief conversation with his informant at a nearby alley shop, rushed out upon hearing Arabelle’s cry.
He quickly helped Arabelle up, meticulously checking for any injuries.
"I'm not hurt."
"You say you're not hurt, but your palm is scraped."
They had briefly stopped at a shop on the outskirts to receive a report from an informant planted in the capital when Arabelle got hurt.
Honestly, it was an embarrassing wound to call an injury. Despite it being just a scrape, the emperor fussed over it, skillfully wrapping her hand with his handkerchief.
Meanwhile, the girl who had collided with Arabelle hastily got up and tried to flee.
"Where do you think you're going without even apologizing?"
The emperor, his face hardened, stretched out his long arm to grab the girl's shoulder as she tried to run away. It was outrageous that she would try to escape without seeking forgiveness.
"Please, let me go."
The girl was as small and frail as Arabelle, appearing a year or two younger.
"If I get caught here, I'm dead."
The girl, alternating her gaze between Arabelle and the emperor, had a face filled with despair that didn’t match her age.
As the trembling girl looked pitiable, Arabelle approached her.
"There she is! Catch her!"
Three or four rough-looking men rushed into the alley.
The man who seemed to be the leader among them, standing before the emperor, bowed his head and spoke gruffly, appearing to show respect as if he thought the emperor was a noble.
"Thank you for catching her. She is a maid from Baron Beron’s household who ran away with debts."
The man grabbed the girl by the collar from the emperor and shouted.
"You little rat. Where do you think you’re running off to? When we get back, you’ll get nothing but the scraps!"
The girl struggled to escape his grasp but to no avail.
Surrounded and dragged by the men, the girl cried out in desperation.
"Help me...! Please help me! Sob, sob. Someone, please..."
Ignoring the retreating group, the emperor extended his hand to Arabelle. However, she was already chasing after the men.
"What's going on here? Even if she’s a maid who ran away with debts, you can’t treat a young girl so roughly."
"Mind your own business and go on your way. Our Baron Beron is a prominent figure in this area."
The man dragging the girl replied irritably, but Arabelle didn’t give up and blocked their path.
"Can’t you see the girl is terrified? You can’t drag her off like an animal."
The men sneered at Arabelle, as small and frail as the girl they were holding.
"What if we can't? What are you going to do about it? Our baron is powerful enough to bring down even the birds. Don’t meddle."
"Are you going to strip in front of the baron instead? Judging by the looks of you, you’re much more to the baron’s taste, and I’m sure he’ll be very pleased. We’ll even get a nice reward."
"If you entertain the baron tonight in place of this girl, we’ll escort you and her very carefully. Hehehe."
Suddenly, swish, smack.
"Aaah!"
"Ouch!"
The men, who had been eyeing Arabelle with lewd gazes, were swiftly struck down to the ground.
With each measured step of the emperor, holding a leather whip, fear thickened in the alley. He placed his boot on the eye of the leader lying in agony on the ground.
"Aaaah!"
Unable to bear the pain, the leader screamed as the emperor ground his boot into his face. A chilling voice spoke above his crumpled face.
"If your baron isn’t here by the time my shadow moves behind me, not one of you will leave this place alive."
A small object fell with a dull thud beside the crawling man.
"Show this to Baron Beron. If he wants to live, he will come running."
Comments
Post a Comment